Archives

Letter from Colonel James F. Macleod, Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, to his wife, Mary
August 1879
Glenbow Archives M-776-14

The Glenbow Archives, Canada's largest non-governmental archival repository, has extensive holdings of unpublished documents and photographs related to the history of Western Canada.

It is a major research centre for historians, writers, students, genealogists, filmmakers, and the media. It houses a wide-ranging collection of unpublished archival records (such as diaries, letters, minute books, photographs, scrapbooks, speeches, membership lists, films, and sound recordings) for over 3,000 individuals, families, clubs, businesses, schools, and organizations in Calgary, southern Alberta and Western Canada. The records, which take up five kilometres of shelf space, date from the 1860s to the 1990s, and document not only the people who created them, but also the broader social, political, and economic history of this region. Areas of specialty include First Nations (especially Blackfoot), Mounted Police, pioneer life, ranching and agriculture, the petroleum industry, politics (especially the farmers' movement), labour and unions, women, the arts (especially theatre), and businesses.

If you already know which area of the collections you would like to search, select the database from the drop-down menu below. To find out which areas of the collection are searchable online and how to search the collections, click here.